Feijoa Promotions

This is the page where we will be providing information on industry promotions.

For more info contact us at feijoa@itm.org.nz

NZFGA Press Releases

During the season, the NZFGA makes press releases to raise the feijoa profile. The releases from the current, 2011, season, are reprinted below.

Press Release 15 April 2011

Feijoas for winter menus and exotic preserves

It’s been a great season for Feijoas but there’s still plenty of time to make the most of these delicious green treasures for menus to take you well into winter – and beyond if you preserve, bottle or freeze them. Feijoas have a very distinctive taste and aroma and they’re high in vitamin C. The following recipes are easy to follow and the results will be sure to impress family and friends.

Spicy pork casserole

4 pork chops or pork steaks in bite sized pieces
2 tbs brown sugar/honey
6 feijoas peeled, fresh or frozen
¼ cup of vinegar
½ cup water
1 med onion chopped
½ tsp each mace, cinnamon ground cloves

Place all ingredients in casserole. Cover and cook 180 deg C for 1 ½ hours. Thicken before serving to make a rich gravy.

Feijoa Amber

750 g feijoas
1 tsp grate lemon rind
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
25 g butter
¼ cup caster sugar
2Tb lemon juice

Peel and slice the feijoas. Place the prepared feijoas, sugar, butter, lemon juice and rind in a saucepan. Cook gently for 8 to 10 mins or until the feijoas are tender. Puree in a blender or mash thoroughly with a fork. Separate the eggs. Stir the egg yolks into the feijoas and pour the mixture into a 3 cup capacity ovenproof dish. Bake at 180 deg for 20 mins.

Beat the egg whites until the peaks just fold over. Gradually beat in the sugar. Pile the meringue on top of the feijoa mixture. Bake at 180 deg for a further 10 mins or until the meringue is lightly browned. Serve hot or cold.

Ice Cream Topping

500g mixed cake fruit
brandy
500g feijoas peeled and diced

Fill jar with the cake fruit and feijoas, cover with brandy and leave for 3 months. To serve, spoon over plain ice-cream.

Feijoa jam

1 kg feijoas
4 cups sugar
¼ cup water
juice of lemon

Add peeled and sliced feijoas to water and boil gently until soft. Stir in sugar and lemon juice and boil hard for 5 to 10 minutes. Cool slightly, bottle and seal.

Feijoa chutney

1kg feijoas
1 tb curry powder
1kg onions
1 tb ground ginger
2 cups raisins
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups dates
4 tb salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 litre vinegar
1tsp ground cloves

Cut off blossom end of feijoas, peel onions and mince together with raisins and dates. Add sugar, spices, salt and vinegar and bring to the boil, stirring well. Boil until thick – 1 to 2 hours. Bottle and cover when cold.

Feijoa relish

12 feijoas
1 tb mixed spice
2 apples
1 tb salt
2 onions
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup vinegar
2 cups brown sugar

Peel and chop fruit and onions, put in pan, add vinegar and boil 30 mins. Add remaining ingredients and cook until blended. Bottle and seal when cold.

Crystallised feijoa leathers

2 cups sugar
firm feijoas
1 cup water

Make syrup of sugar and water, add fruit and simmer gently till clear.Drain and dry fruit on greaseproof paper in cool over. When dry, roll and store in airtight jars.

For further information contact Tim Harper, New Zealand Feijoa Growers Association 021 899 666 or Helen Vause 0210 698 703

Photos available on request

Press Release 22 March 2011

IT’S FEIJOA TIME AGAIN

Feijoas are said to be the fruit we most look forward to every summer – and here they are back again! It’s a kiwi thing, this love affair with the little green fruit with a taste and aroma like no other and this year’s harvest of delicious feijoas looks very promising says the president of the New Zealand Feijoa Growers Association, Tim Harper.

Demand for this unique kiwi icon gets stronger every year, says Harper. As consumers and gourmets discover more delicious ways to enjoy them they’ve taken on way higher status with serious foodies everywhere, sought out like the ‘truffles’ of the fruit world!

They are very versatile and they are available from now through to early winter. Of course you can just scoop and eat or whip up in a smoothie but there are many other ways to eat them, hot or cold. They are great in salads, salsas, baking, desserts, juices, pickles and a real variety of interesting meat and fish dishes. However you eat them, they are very good for you too!

FEIJOA UPSIDE DOWN TART

50g butter ½ cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp golden syrup 400g sweet short pastry
7 to 8 feijoas cut in half lengthways

Preheat oven to 200 C. Melt butter, sugar, golden syrup together in a pan. Pour mixture into a 23cm round cake pan. Arrange feijoa halves over the mixture. Roll pastry out in a circle to cover fruit. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until pastry is golden. Remove and stand 10 minutes.

Hold a large plate over the top of the pan and turn upside down. Cut tart into wedges and serve warm.

FEIJOAS IN RED WINE WITH A HINT OF STAR ANISE

8 feijoas
piece of lemon rind
½ cup sugar
2 star anise
1 tsp cornflour
½ cup red wine
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp flaked almonds

Wash and peel feijoas and leave whole. In the saucepan put first measure of water, sugar, red wine, lemon rind and star anise. Heat gently until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Add feijoas and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Take care not to overcook. Arrange fruit in a serving bowl. Strain feijoas juice. Mix cornflour with 1 Tbsp water to form a smooth paste. Pour into feijoa juice.

Return to the heat, stir continuously until sauce thickens. Cook 1-2 minutes. Serve fruit, sprinkled with almonds. Serve warm.

SWEET AND SOUR FISH

500g skinned and boned firm fish fillets
oil for frying
2 tsp dry sherry
½ cup cornflour
1 tsp salt

Sauce

1 Tbsp grated root ginger
2 spring onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 cup peeled and diced feijoas
1 tsp cornflour
1 Tbsp dry sherry
3 Tbsps each white vinegar, tomato sauce, orange juice, sugars

Cut the fish into four cm chunks. Season with salt and sherry then toss in cornflour. Heat oil for deep frying then fry fish in batches until golden. Drain on absorbent paper and keep warm. In a clean pan, heat 2 – 3 Tbsp of frying oil and stir fry the ginger, onions, garlic for about 30 seconds. Add all the sauce ingredients except the cornflour. Mix the cornflour into a paste with a little water then stir into the sauce, cooking until thickened. Serve over the fish.

FEIJOA SALSA

3 feijoas
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 onion
freshly ground black pepper

Chop into small pieces and mix together or puree. Serve with steak, chicken or fish or use as a dip.

*Add 1 Tbsp of chopped fresh coriander for a different twist on this salsa.

FEIJOA MOUSSE WITH NOUGAT

1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 tsp gelatin
600g feijoas
360g ricotta
180g nougat

In a small pot combine the sugar and water and place over low heat stirring until dissolved. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor puree the feijoas, add the gelatin mixture and the ricotta and process briefly or stir to blend. Pour the mixture into individual glasses and refrigerate for at least six hours. Crumble the nougat in a food processor (or chop by hand into small pieces) and sprinkle over the mousse and serve.

FEIJOA FACTS

Feijoas are good for you! They are high in anti-oxidants, high in minerals and fibre, a great source of vitamin C and they are low in calories.

Feijoas are ripe when slightly soft and when the jellied sections of a freshly cut fruit are clear. If the jellied sections are white the fruit is not ripe to eat; if its greyish or brown, the feijoa is past its best.
Ripe feijoas, unless refrigerated, only retain a good flavour for two or three days. Brown blotches or yellowing skin are a sign the feijoas are well past their best.
When buying feijoas put them in the fridge or eat them as soon as possible. Very firm fruit may need two or three days in the fruit bowl to fully ripen. Hard fruit will probably never ripen.
Fruit touch-picked from the tree have better keeping and eating qualities than fruit gathered from the ground.

It’s feijoa time again.

April 2011

IT’S FEIJOA TIME AGAIN

The above press release was also sent to the media in Australia, but with the opening paragraphs below. The Australian release continued with the same recipes and feijoa facts.

What do you catch with a bucket of Feijoas ? A crowd of salivating New Zealanders. Pollsters say Kiwis love these little green treasures and keenly await this iconic taste ot autumn every year. Now more and more Australians are seeking them out since they began appearing in local supermarkets. And Sydney food lovers want to know how to put them on the menu at home fresh, cooked and in fabulous combinations.

Demand for this unique fruit gets stronger every year, as consumers and gourmets discover more delicious ways to enjoy them. They’ve taken on way higher status with serious foodies everywhere and they are now sought out like the ‘truffles’ of the fruit world, says Tim Harper, president of the New Zealand Feijoa Growers Association.

They are very versatile and they’re available from now through to early winter. Of course you can just scoop and eat or whip up in a smoothie but there are many other ways to eat them, hot or cold. They are great in salads, salsas, baking, deserts, juices, pickles and a real variety of interesting meat and fish dishes. However you eat them, they’re very good for you too!